Urza interview

The situation has been a bit difficult for us lately after receiving the info that we will have to leave our rehearsal room by the end of May. Fortunately we have signed the contract for a new place last week, so everything is fine now and we can keep on working on new stuff for the next album.

Can you talk to us more about your fresh stuff (The Omnipresence Of Loss)?

Yes, our debut “The Omnipresence of Loss” has been released March 15th by Solitude Productions. We worked very hard on writing the material for that album throughout the last 3 1/2 years. Only one song we composed during this period didn’t find its way on the album. So you will find 5 long tracks with a total running time of more than one hour.

We recorded in February 2018 and with the mixing and mastering processes everything was ready to be released in December 2018. Immediately after that we contacted several labels incl. Solitude Productions to which we finally signed in January 2019. And here you have the result.

Did any event in particular inspire you to write this album? Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?

No, there was no specific event. In 2014 I met our drummer Hannes at the Heavy Days in Doomtown in Copenhagen. He told me about the band he played in and I joined them shortly after. During 2015 we – Hannes (drums), Olli (guitar) and me (bass) – decided to do kind of a restart and to enter a more extreme Doom mode.

That was basically the birth of Urza in May 2015. Because the three of us love extreme Doom à la Bell Witch, Evoken, Ataraxie etc. it was quite clear what kind of music we wanted to play.

Speaking for myself, I was already trying to find musicians to start a Doom band for some years. So with Urza my dreams have become reality!

Musically we don’t look out for any particular inspiration by bands or genres. Of course everything that we like can be seen as a creative source.

Lyrically Olli is more led by personal, emotional issues and philosophical topics. I’m more into dystopic visions and end of civilization kind of stuff. So all in all dark, negative, nihilistic matters.

Any plans to release a new video for some track?

Haha, well yes, we are thinking about doing a video for a certain song. But we are still in the process of collecting ideas and material for this project.

So, nothing to see the light of day in the near future.

How was the recording and writing process?

As said before it was a continuous process of about 3 1/2 years. The first songs were written by Olli and me until Marcus, our 2nd guitarist, joined the band mid 2016. From that point we are composing as a 3-piece.

Of course our drummer as well as our singer, Thomas, are always involved in the composition process. It’s a team work.

We want all the influences and ideas of each band member to be integrated into the songs.

For the recording we did everything by our own. The mixing and mastering was accomplished by a good friend of mine, Chris at CHYPHX-AUDIO. And he did a fantastic job!

What was it like to work with Solitude Productions and how did that relationship develop?

As mentioned above I contacted the label immediately after the album was completed. As a big fan of Doom music for a very long time and as an assiduous buyer of a lot of their releases, Solitude Productions obviously was one of my favorite labels to work with.

And apparently it was not difficult for them to take a positive decision and offer us a deal.

How much each musician influence the album?

Each of us has his preferences, ideas and suggestions. So when we decide that it’s good and fits to the whole concept we are trying to work it out together and implement it in the songs. Well… the guitar players who are coming up with new riffs might have a bit more influence than the others. But as we work as a team, the album and all the songs are definitively a collective effort.

Any plans to hit the road?

Yeah, for sure. We are already looking for live opportunities. For October/November we are currently planning a mini tour with our Berlin friends of Praise The Plague.

Hopefully we will have some more possibilities to promote our album, especially outside of our hometown so that more people have the chance to see us on stage.

What else is happening next in Urza’s world?

We are already working on the next opus since the end of last year. One song is completed. The second one is in the making. Prior to album No. 2 we are thinking about releasing a vinyl EP next year including a new song that won’t be part of the next record plus a cover version. But nothing’s fixed yet. Our second full length is scheduled for 2021. But of course that depends on many factors.